


Let Loose

by mozbee



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-15 05:33:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11224359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mozbee/pseuds/mozbee
Summary: Maybe there is such a thing as too much to drink, even on one's own birthday. Newt fears he has done irreparable damage to his relationship with Percival after a raucous night.





	Let Loose

**Author's Note:**

> I had my baby! For dinner. Haha, I kid. But no, now that I gave birth I've learned firsthand how demanding babies are. I wrote this as a way to try to get back into the swing of things, and also to try to break up the crusted spit-up on my keyboard. There's not really much of a point to this, but I hope it's read and enjoyed nonetheless :)

Newt lay in bed, trying to slow the spinning in his head that made keeping his eyes open an unpleasant chore. His gut ached and twisted from the memory of being drowned in alcohol the night before, and his headache pounded in time with his pulse. He wanted to curl up in the fetal position but moving seemed a very bad idea to his agitated stomach. No matter what he did he wasn't comfortable, and a snide voice in his head reminded him this was why he didn't drink.

The bedroom door opened slowly, and Percival stuck his head in the room. When he saw Newt was awake he came in, carrying water and a bottle of aspirin. He sat down gently on the edge of the bed next to Newt and set the water and pills on the night table.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, voice tinged with sympathy. He grimaced at Newt's answering groan. "I figured as much." He nodded at his offering. "Feel like you could stomach some aspirin?"

Newt didn't trust himself to talk, nausea still coming and going in hot waves, so he settled for a slow nod that he quickly cut off. Percival shook a pill out for him and held it up to his lips. Newt took it and raised a shaking hand for the glass of water, pulling in a sip, closing his eyes as the cool liquid slid down his fevered throat, chasing the pill into his stomach. He forced himself to breathe deeply, hoping he would be able to keep it down. He glanced up at Percival as he rested his head back against the pillow, and felt his stomach twist for a reason unrelated to his hangover.

He was watching Newt with an odd look on his face, like he couldn't quite figure him out, much the same as he used to look at Newt when they were first getting to know each other, before they had started dating, and Newt had seemed like an awkward enigma to him. But then he had always enjoyed figuring Newt out; now he seemed uncertain, wary even, and Newt feared he had pushed Percival too far once and for all. As crappy as he felt, as hazy as it was, he had a fair recollection of his behaviour last night, and he was terrified that it would be the final straw for Percival, a man who, strait-laced as he was, enjoyed a good time as any other person, but maybe not to the extent Newt had pushed him. 

-X-

"Have another, Newt," Jacob laughed as he pushed a full shot glass across the table. Newt frowned at the drink, the whiskey dark in the frosted glass, and he reached out, hand clumsily bumping against other empty glasses that were scattered about the table. He snorted when he knocked one to the floor.

"Jacob!" he admonished as he pulled the full glass towards himself. His friend giggled.

"What? I didn't do it!" 

"What didn't you do, hun?" Queenie came into the kitchen from the living room where the others were. She bent down and pressed a kiss to Jacob's cheek, and smiled over at Newt. "Enjoying yourself, birthday boy?"

Newt beamed at her. "Most assudly...assure...yes!" He picked his glass up to punctuate his point.

She giggled and ruffled his hair fondly, something she wouldn't have got away with had he been sober. "You two oughtta come join the rest of us, it isn't a party with just my sister and her boss." 

Newt nodded enthusiastically. "Come, Jacob, let's go be the light of the party."

Jacob belched hugely as he stood. "Sorry, dear," he drunkenly said to his wife. Queenie just patted his arm as she moved past him to grab a plate of nachos that sat waiting on the counter. Newt went into the living room, still clutching his drink as he made his way to the couch Percival sat on, kicking an errant balloon out of the way as he went. 

He had never been quite this drunk before. He felt warm all over inside and out, and like his head was bursting with clever thoughts, and he was finding it easier than it had ever been to participate in conversations. There was a small part of him that had pointed out he usually would not talk on the topics he and Jacob had been discussing over the course of the evening, but he wasn't finding anything asinine or boring. 

He sat next to Percival, bumping against his solid frame as he settled in. Percival gave him an amused grin and draped an arm around his shoulders. "Enjoy yourself with Jacob?"

Newt nodded. "Oh yes, although he was being a stubborn jackass about something."

Percival laughed. "Yes, we heard you berating him from here."

Tina squinted over her drink at Newt from where she sat across from him on a deep leather chair. "You look different," she declared, her face tinged red with the effects of the liquor. Then she slid her gaze to Percival and shook her head in drunken wonder. "I still can't believe I'm drunk around my boss."

Jacob and Queenie came in and sat around the coffee table, Queenie depositing the tray of nachos while Jacob focused on sitting squarely on his chair. Tina brightened and reached for a handful of chips, paying no mind to the melted cheese that instantly clung to her fingers. She crunched happily but froze when Percival's voice broke out.

"Do not even think about wiping your fingers on that chair," he growled, as her hand wandered to seemingly do just that. Tina gave him a sheepish grin and quickly pulled her hand back into her lap. 

"Oh Tina, honestly," Queenie said, shaking her head at her sister. Percival went into the kitchen to retrieve more napkins, and he very pointedly handed Tina a plate when he came back. She raised her glass in appreciation at him and winked at Newt who frowned over at her. 

"He'll fire you, you know. He's mentioned it loads of times." 

Tina's face dropped, and Percival snorted as he settled in next to Newt. "Don't be mean, Newt," he scolded. "She'll believe anything you tell her right about now."

Newt laughed as Tina glared at him. "That's exactly why I said it." He realized he still held his shot glass and was mildly surprised that he hadn't spilled it while he had sat on the couch. He caught Percival giving him an amused look out of the corner of his eye, and demanded, "what?" 

Percival just chuckled and shook his head. "Nothing, dear, nothing at all." He still looked far too amused for Newt's liking. Newt settled for mussing up his perfectly coiffed hair like he knew Percival hated, and leaned away from him to toss his drink back. He shuddered and gagged on the taste, setting the glass down hard on the table. Percival was glaring at him while he smoothed his hair back down over Tina's delighted crow that she had never seen him looking so undone. Newt grinned at her and nudged Percival playfully. 

"That's nothing compared to the picture I got of him at Christmas time. I'll show you," he said, making to stand, but a firm grip on his wrist tugged him back onto the couch. 

"You'll do nothing of the sort," Percival told him sternly, though there was a smile dancing around his lips. "Not only because Tina would never be allowed back at the office where she could tell others, but because I'm not having you stumble up the stairs in this state and likely break your neck."

"But then you would just have to take care of me," Newt pointed out. "And that's what you're here for."

"Tonight that's certainly true," Percival agreed, eyeing his empty glass pointedly. "And tomorrow too I'm sure."

"Newt!" Jacob fairly hollered from where he sat with Queenie. "Your glass is empty, pal! Let's rectal that!" He and Newt burst out laughing. 

"Rectal isn't the word!" Newt cried, his cheeks hurting from being stretched so wide in his mirth. Tina was choking on a mouthful of nachos while snorting with laughter, and Queenie and Percival shared a mock look of exasperation. 

"Does she always get like this when she's been drinking?" Percival asked, waving to Tina who had her mouth covered with a napkin to minimise the spray of food.

Queenie giggled and nodded at Newt who was collapsed against the back of the couch, trying to speak with Jacob in between wheezy laughter. "I could ask you the same, mister."

Percival shook his head in bemusement at Newt. "This is the first he's had this much to drink, at least with me around." He found himself chuckling at Newt and Jacob trying to land on the word 'rectify', and only confusing themselves more in the process. Queenie caught his eye and mouthed the word 'cake?' He nodded and stood up. Newt pulled at his leg as he passed him. Percival bent down and looked into his bright eyes. "Yes, Newt?"

"Can you refill me?"

"Not in front of us!" Jacob howled from his chair. Newt wagged a finger at his friend.

"No need to make this perverted!" He smiled up at Percival and held out his glass hopefully. Percival took it obligingly.

"I hope you know what you're asking for tomorrow," he warned Newt, only half serious. Newt seemed to be having the time of his life, and it wasn't often he was so free with himself around others, and Percival wouldn't begrudge him that. And he also wouldn't say 'I told you so' in the morning when he was sick as a dog from all the liquor he was drinking. As he started to head into the kitchen, he was shocked when a hand suddenly slapped his ass, and he looked at Newt who was grinning up at him. 

"Make it snappy, handsome," Newt giggled, leaning back against the couch. Tina was having a conniption fit and Jacob was red-faced from laughing at the look on Percival's face. Percival tried to fight back his own amusement lest he encouraged Newt, and settled for shaking his head as he met Queenie in the kitchen. She was pulling the cake from where he had stored it in the oven to keep it hidden from prying eyes, and Percival put Newt's glass in the sink while at the same time reaching into the cupboard above for the candles kept there. "I'm hoping the cake will distract him from remembering he wanted another drink," he explained to Queenie when she glanced at him.

She nodded knowingly. "Tina prefers mixed drinks over shots so I can just give her straight soda after a while and she doesn't even notice." She grinned at him then, and added, "you're going to have your hands full in the morning." There was a dull thud followed by raucous laughter coming from the living room, and the two of them moved in unspoken agreement to hurry up and get back out to the drunken fools before something catastrophic happened. Percival stuck the candles in the cake around Newt's name spelled out in icing, and while he lit them Queenie went into the living room to make sure everyone was sitting down and not face first on the table or floor. She snapped the lights off and shushed Jacob when he yelled in mock fear, then Percival made his entrance.

Jacob and Tina were quick to start singing, horribly out of tune and synch, but with Percival's deep baritone and Queenie's airy soprano, they managed to get on track and get through the whole 'Happy Birthday' rigamarole, to the enjoyment of Newt beaming on the couch. Even in the dimmed room, Percival could see the flush on his face, and he had a feeling that if Newt had been sober he would have dived under the table to get away from being the centre of attention.

He set the cake down with a flourish, and Newt immediately leaned forward and with one mighty exhale blew the candles out. Jacob and Tina cheered loudly while Queenie clapped, and Percival took the moment to bend down and tell Newt, "happy birthday," softly and kiss him on the cheek. They shared a happy smile before Newt suddenly grimaced and quickly turned his head to let loose with an echoing belch that had Jacob roaring with laughter and Tina looking queasy. 

"Let them eat cake!" Newt cried, throwing his arms wide in gesture around the room. As the lights were turned back on, as Percival cut the cake and Queenie passed out plates, Newt was overcome with a flush of joy. He loved all these people, he really did. It wasn't just the liquor flowing through him that made him think that, and he knew they were fond of him. It was a wonderful thing, he reflected, this having friends business. He was by nature quiet and reserved, and often left unsure as to how to navigate relationships with other people, but this group in front of him were all exceptions to the rule. 

"Newt?" He blinked, coming out of his reverie to see Percival sitting next to him and offering a plate with a thick slice of cake on it. "I cut you the part with your name on it," he said by way of explanation for the size of the piece. Newt felt his heart swell, and he grinned broadly at Percival.

"Thank you! I guess you won't be the only one eating me tonight!" He burst out laughing at the look on Percival's face, even as he marvelled at having actually said that. Tina was trying to hide her mortification behind her own cake, but her ears were red and she looked to be having trouble swallowing. 

Percival cast his eyes heavenward, as if asking for help, then addressed the room at large. "Would anyone like something to drink? Coffee or water, anything like that?"

“You wouldn’t know it from looking at him, but Percival is quite the homemaker,” Newt said through a large mouthful of cake. He snorted at the look Percival cast him. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Percy.”

Tina’s eyes boggled. “Do you actually call him _Percy_?” she asked excitedly. “I’ve always wondered about-“

“About _what_ , Tina?” Percival growled, eyes flashing. She quickly mimed zipping her lip, but couldn’t fight back the grin that was making its way across her face. Newt winked at her.

“I’ll text you some time,” he promised. Percival turned his glare on him but Newt wasn’t fazed, reaching over to pat his arm comfortingly. “The cake is very good, dear.” He couldn’t help the snort of laughter at the look on Percival’s face. He was feeling decidedly dozy, warm without being hot, and even though his stomach was cramping slightly from, he guessed, the mix of liquor and cake, he was determined to finish his piece. Percival had worked so hard on it, anyway. He found himself chewing endlessly on the bite of cake in his mouth, and suddenly he was parched. “Eh, Perce, how about a drink?” he nudged his boyfriend.

“Whiskey!” Jacob cheered from across the room. He rocked back and forth in his seat to pop up on unsteady legs. “The birthday boy needs another shot, I think. He’s _just_ this side of plastered.”

Tina pulled a face as she set her plate down, licked clean of icing and crumbs. “I think if I so much as smell whiskey I’ll hurl.”

“And you’ll not be doing that in _my_ car on the drive home,” Queenie told her sternly from where she kept a watchful eye on her wobbling husband. “I’ll get you a coffee or something if you like, Tina.”

“Well that’s certainly boring,” Newt taunted, pulling a face at Tina who glared in response. Percival clapped his hand over Newt’s mouth before he could go off again.

“Now, Newt, leave her alone,” he chided, mocking in his stern tone. He quickly withdrew his hand when Newt soaked his palm with his tongue. “How mature,” Percival muttered, wiping his hand dry on his pants. Newt laughed and winked.

“You can teach me my lesson later.” Percival’s ears reddened slightly at Jacob’s burst of shocked laughter, a high-pitched giggle that cut off abruptly when Queenie knocked him on the back of the head.

“Newt, honey, I think you should keep some thoughts to yourself, hm?” Queenie asked, flashing him a bright smile that said she didn’t think she would break through his drunken haze. Newt waved a hand dismissively.

“I don’t think it’s any secret that Perce is the dominant one in the bedroom.” Newt leaned forward, heedless of his plate slipping from its precarious perch on his knee, and spoke with a conspiratorial air, unsteadily looking Jacob in the eye. “In fact, if you were to—“

“No!” Tina cried from her chair, dropping back against the cushion and pressing her hands tightly over her ears. “There are things I want to know about my boss, and things I do _not_ under any circumstances want to know. Someone shut Newt up, please.”

“Come on, birthday boy,” Jacob ordered, making his jelly-legged way over to Newt on the couch and tugging him to his feet. “I’ve got something I wanted to talk to you about anyhow. In _private_ ,” he added, giving Queenie and Percival a pointed look. Newt pulled his hands free from Jacob’s sweaty grip, and impulsively turned to Percival and bent low in his face.

“I’ll be thinking of you, Percy.” He leaned in and roughly pressed his lips onto Percival’s face, swaying a bit and landing near his boyfriend’s eyebrow. Newt gave him a fond pat on the head and turned to follow an impatient Jacob into the kitchen. Queenie came and sat next to Percival with a long-suffering sigh.

“There’s a nearly full bottle of rye in there,” she said to him. Percival nodded.

“Yep.”

The sound of a glass breaking had them both wincing. “Your kitchen is going to look like a war zone in the morning,” Queenie told him. Percival nodded again.

“Yep.”

A burst of laughter wafted from the kitchen, followed by hurried shushing. Queenie lay her head on Percival’s shoulder and smiled fondly at Tina who was slumped bonelessly in her seat, snoring softly, mouth half open.

“It was a good cake, Mr Graves.” Percival smiled and patted Queenie’s knee.

“Thank you, Mrs Kowalski.”

-X-

Newt sighed as Percival rubbed comforting circles on his back. He lifted his head slightly from the wastebasket propped on his legs, lined with a plastic shopping bag. Percival wordlessly offered him a glass of water but Newt shook his head.

“It’s just going to come back up,” he said, his gut already twisting at the mere thought of having anything visit it, no matter how briefly. He narrowed his eyes and peered into the basket. “I think I see the aspirin I took. Fat lot of good it will do me now.”

A cool cloth was pressed to the back of his neck, and Newt leaned into it. “Thanks, Perce,” he muttered, longing to lay back on his bed but queasy at the idea of moving. Every time he had tried to recline, his stomach had rebelled fiercely, and left him dry heaving until his eyes watered from the effort.

He felt awful physically and mentally; every time he remembered something from the night before with more clarity he wished he hadn’t. All those crass comments he had made to and about Percival, in front of his subordinate no less! True, Tina was more a friend than a co-worker, but it didn’t mean she wanted to hear the kind of things Newt had been spewing about her boss last night. And he knew how private Percival was; if it hadn’t been for Newt, who on his own was somewhat of a recluse, pushing his few friends onto Percival, the man would be a veritable hermit, content to go to and from work with only Newt for company.

And then Newt had practically offered up every sordid detail of their personal relationship, his judgement clouded by the drink he had indulged in the whole night long. He was afraid to look at Percival directly, afraid of the look he might see in his eyes, one of disappointment in Newt’s inability to keep private things to himself.

“If you want me to do anything else just let me know,” Percival told him quietly, his hand warm on Newt’s back. Newt dipped his head closer to the wastebasket to hide the inexplicable watering of his eyes. Percival was still being so kind, but Newt had the unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach that it was all an act, that Percival was tamping down on his disgust with Newt until he was feeling well enough to withstand his wrath. His actions last night, as far as Newt was concerned, were unforgivable. He was scared to hear exactly what Percival thought of him now, now that he knew Newt was incapable of holding his tongue after he got a bit of drink in him.

“I think I’d like to lay down now,” Newt managed to say through his nausea. The wastebasket was lifted from his tremulous grasp and set on the floor by the bed. Steady hands helped him lower himself ever so slowly to the mattress, and he breathed deeply to try to quell the sick feeling that left him in a cold sweat.

Whenever he was sick, things seemed worse than they did when he wasn’t. When he was in primary school he had worried himself sick over a group presentation, but when it came time to stand in front of the class he had found it easier to stomach than he had thought. He tended to dwell on negative things when he was sick; he made himself feel as bad emotionally as he felt physically. It made it easy for him to exaggerate, true, but that wasn’t something he realized until he was looking back in hindsight.

Now, to see Percival sitting on the edge of the bed, sympathetic look on his face, Newt felt like a pile of dung. Percival was being kind now, true, but Newt feared that when he was feeling his chipper self Percival would have harsh words for him in regards to the embarrassment of the night before.

“Are you going to be sick?” Percival asked suddenly, leaning in closer to Newt. “You look like you’re about to be sick.” He lifted the wastebasket and had it at the ready until Newt weakly shook his head.

“No, not at the moment at least,” Newt said, fiercely ordering his eyes to stay dry, the tears to not fall and betray how he was feeling. The last thing he should be doing was pushing Percival into pitying him, when he, not Newt, was the real victim here. Percival nodded and stood. He gestured to the sick-filled wastebasket in his hand.

“I’ll go get a new bag in this for you and dump the old one. Did you want the cloth on your forehead?”

_I don’t deserve it,_ Newt thought miserably. He would deny himself any more comfort from Percival, at least until he could make amends. He shook his head no, and closed his eyes, shakily resting his head against his pillow. The curtains in the room were drawn, and it was a cool atmosphere, all of it more than he deserved. He heard Percival leave the room, and swore to himself he would properly apologize to him just as soon as he could move about without throwing up on himself.

That settled, he tried to concentrate on staying still enough so as not to aggravate his stomach any more than it already was, and focused on how he would go about making reparations.

-X-

“You look about a thousand times better than this morning,” Percival said, laying down his book and standing from the couch. He crossed quickly and put his arm around Newt. “You want to sit on the couch with me? I’ll help you.”

“Thanks,” Newt said, feeling slightly out of breath from his journey down the stairs. His fingertips were still trembling and he was dizzy, but he felt stronger after nearly eight hours of sleep undisturbed by throwing up or anything so unpleasant. He sat on the couch, Percival’s arm still around his shoulders, but he didn’t lean into him like he normally would have. His physical sickness was evaporating, but all that meant was his emotional turmoil was at its peak.

While he slept long, it had been fraught with fevered imaginings of Percival casting him out of their house, disgust plain on his face, turning from Newt no matter how he pleaded with him. When Newt had first woken up he had half managed to convince himself he was being overdramatic, but sitting here next to Percival, he wasn’t so sure.

Percival nudged his shoulder gently. “Newt? Thinking about anything in particular?” He ran his fingers through Newt’s hair, matted as it was from sleep sweat. “Would you like some broth, or tea? Just to get something in your stomach?”

Newt grimaced. “I don’t think quite yet.” Percival nodded, and settled back into the couch, seeming content to sit for the rest of the night with him. Newt noticed with a flood of guilt that the living room was put back in order, no trace of the raucous party having ever occurred. He suspected the kitchen would be back in impeccable order as well. That was another thing he had failed Percival in. All because he had to be selfish the night before and drink too much and embarrass his boyfriend in front of their friends and then spend the entirety of today in bed like some petulant child who didn’t want to do his share. He felt like such a brat. And if he kept this up he was sure it wouldn’t be long until Percival realized dating someone eight years his junior wasn’t worth the hassle and he would find someone closer to his own age that he didn’t have to babysit.

“Penny for your thoughts.” Percival’s voice had a tinge of amusement in it. Newt tore his gaze from where it had fixated on the armchair Tina had planted herself the evening before and glanced at Percival. He steeled himself for the inevitable, figuring he had had the whole day to prepare himself for this, so he may as well get on with it now, so they could move on from the unpleasantness, or Percival could move on from him.

“I’m sorry, Percival,” he began, hesitant despite his determination to speak and clear the air. “I behaved terribly last night.” He kept his eyes on his own lap and twisted his fingers, heart beating an anxious pattern. “I shouldn’t have said those things I did, I should have known better than to drink so much and make a fool out of myself and embarrass you as I did. And to leave you with the clean up as I did. I hope you can forgive me.”

Newt exhaled mightily when he finished, but he didn’t dare look at Percival, who had remained still and silent during his recitation. The silence was dragging on, interminable. The longer Percival didn’t say a word, the more Newt’s mind spun. It was worse than he had thought it would be, Percival was angrier than he had thought, and his stomach was roiling the longer the silence continued until he was sure all Percival would tell him would be to pack up and shove off.

All of a sudden, he heard Percival huff a laugh. “Newt,” he said, reaching a hand out to cover one of Newt’s own, “you have nothing to apologize for.”

Newt looked at him incredulously. “What d’you mean? I was horrible last night!”

“Last night, you had fun. On your birthday, with your friends, in your house,” Percival told him, a slightly bemused look on his face. “Why would any of that be something to apologize for?”

“Well, because,” Newt said lamely, words failing him. “I thought you would be, well…”

“What? Angry?” Percival asked, sounding unsure. “Newt, you didn’t do anything wrong. I mean, your body may disagree with me on that considering how you’ve felt today, but you didn’t do anything wrong when it comes to me.” He held onto Newt’s hand a bit tighter. “Is that why you spent the whole day alone in our room? Were you…afraid of being around me because you thought I was mad?”

Newt shrugged and winced when his head spun. He still wasn’t quite up to par. He felt breathless, here on the cusp of the discussion with Percival. He felt like he didn’t know how to feel; one part of him heard Percival, but another part didn’t believe him.

“Oh, Newt,” Percival sighed, and he shifted closer and gently pulled Newt against himself. Newt couldn’t help tensing until warm hands were wrapped around him and holding him tight. Percival’s breath was warm on his ear, and he took comfort and strength in his presence.

“I’m sorry, I just wasn’t thinking and I practically threw our relationship in their faces last night without even thinking how it would make you feel, saying all those private things, I spent today terrified that you would hate me for it,” Newt burst out, digging his fingers into Percival’s back. He heard how his voice shook with barely contained emotion, and his eyes watered but he forced himself to suck it up, this wasn’t meant to try and garner pity from Percival, not when he was the victim and Newt the perpetrator.

Percival kissed him firmly on the side of the head, then sat back, his eyes warm as he took Newt’s face in his hands and their gazes met. “You absolute sweetheart,” he said, with a small smile. “Newt, the only thing I can think you may have to regret last night is the amount of alcohol you drank. And that’s only if you personally feel it was too much. I can promise you here and now, I never once felt humiliated because of something you said.”

“But what about—“ Newt began, but was silenced with a finger on his lips.

“ _Nothing_ you said bothered me. Besides,” Percival added with a grin, “do you really think Tina or Jacob are in any state to remember any of it clearly?”

Newt managed a shaky grin at that very good point. His heart stuttered when Percival turned serious, a small frown making itself known.

“What _does_ bother me is what you thought I was going to do. I hoped you would know me better than that now, with how long we’ve been together.”  Newt sighed and looked down.

“I do know you better than that, Percival,” he said quietly. “But I can’t help but think the worst case scenario when I’m unsure of something. It’s just what, you know, I’m used to…” he trailed off.

“Newt,” Percival said, but stopped, as though he wasn’t sure how to continue. He tried again. “I know your previous relationships are, quite frankly, best left in the past where they belong. Maybe if this had happened with one of them, your fear would be justified. But like I told you, at the start of us: that was not normal, and I will work tirelessly to show you what a real relationship is supposed to be. And after all this time together, I can promise you that hasn’t changed.”

Newt worried at a fingernail. “But what if I—“

“Nothing,” Percival said firmly. “I love you, Newt, and once I’ve made up my mind about something, it’s nearly impossible to change.”

“So, you’ve made up your mind about me?” Newt asked, warmth flooding through him. Percival nodded.

“A long time ago,” he promised.  He leaned in close to Newt and stopped a few inches shy of his face. “I have to admit, I’ve just made up my mind about something else.”  


“Oh?” Newt asked, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

“Yes,” Percival nodded again. “You definitely need to shower, and brush your teeth.”

Newt blushed but laughed, giving Percival a small shove. “It can’t be that bad. Can it?” he added, looking down at himself as though he could see the smell.

“Oh yes it can,” Percival assured him. He stood, and helped Newt to as well. “But don’t worry. I’ll help you get cleaned up, and then maybe you’ll feel up to eating something.”

Newt couldn’t help the fond smile he levelled at his lover. “I love you, Perce.” Percival’s eyes shone, and he settled his hands on Newt’s waist.

“I love you too, Newt,” he said, and then a bit sheepishly added, “and I love when you call me Perce. But _that_ is something you will take to your grave.”

Newt laughed. “Well, honestly, get enough rye into me and I can’t make any promises on being able to hold my tongue.” Remembering his emboldened attitude last night, he drew on that to say, “I guess you’ll just have to find a way to keep my tongue occupied.”

Percival looked momentarily shocked and Newt delighted in it until suddenly he was being kissed deeply, the hands on his waist still gentle, and all too soon Percival pulled back.

“I’m sorry Newt,” he said seriously, and Newt felt a flash of fear.

“Sorry?”

“Yes,” Percival nodded solemnly. “Your breath really is quite awful.”

 Newt covered his mouth with his hand and spoke from behind it. “Well, you’re the one who decided to brave it for a measly kiss, Mr Graves.”

Percival took his hand and squeezed it. “And I would do it again in a heartbeat, Mr Scamander.”

**Author's Note:**

> Did you think I was kidding when I said there was no real point to this? Truly it was just a way for me to get writing again and this fandom is just such a joy. And if you enjoyed this, let me know so I can show my baby that momma has some use in the world!


End file.
